Me and Nolan, that is.
Other people would’ve found that strange, and I sure as shit didn’t have any way to explain it, but it simply worked for us as teenagers, and I had a hunch it might work for us as grown-up adults too.
But we guys had fucked all of that up back at the end of high school, big time.
She’d fucked off, and I didn’t really blame her.
And since she’d been gone, we hadn’t found anyone to top Poppy and push her from our minds. I was pretty sure we never would.
I helped Prue into the front seat while Nolan shared the cramped back seat with Poppy.
“And you said no one would ever use the extra seats in the extended crew cab,” I snorted at the sight of his legs all scrunched up behind the passenger seat.
“Just drive and try not to get us killed,” Nolan said. He smiled like the cat that got the cream despite being all scrunched up behind the passenger seat. Not surprising when he was so close to Poppy at long last.
“Thank you so much for picking us up,” Prue said as we backed up and turned around on the narrow road. “I can text my dad to let him know he’s off the hook now. I was kind of scared for him to get out in this weather anyway, but we didn’t know who to call.”
“You can always call us. My truck’s made for any roads, any weather. And, er, we just, uh... happened to be going this way, too.”
“Really?” I imagined her raising a perfectly manicured brow. “You just happened to be out in the middle of this storm heading toward my house?”
“Is it this way? What a coincidence.” I shrugged, fully aware I convinced no one. “We could have been going anywhere, but I guess it ended up being a good thing that we came this way.”
“It was a good thing,” Prue insisted. “Ignore my sister. We’re grateful for the ride. Right, Poppy?”
“Yes,” she huffed. “We’re grateful.”
Not grateful enough to make small-talk, though. Poppy and Nolan sat in silence while Prue and I had a polite conversation about the bad weather and how great it had been to see everyone at the rehearsal dinner.
Pretty sure Poppy would rather have walked home in sixty mile-per-hour winds than endure the ride back to her place with us, but she had decided to go with us in the end, and that meant there was still a slight, tiny chance that we might get her to talk—or at least to listen—with the few minutes we had left.
“You look nice tonight,” Nolan said quietly.
No response.
“We were, uh...” he continued, “Cooper and I hoped you might, uh, stay out and talk with us when we get to your parents’ place? For a few minutes.”
I rushed to add. “No drama, Poppy. Nothing to worry about. Just... just a few minutes.”
She still didn’t say anything at all.
Well, we tried. That was all we could do.
My mind jumped ahead to the ride back to the ranch with Nolan.
He’d say what a waste of time the night had been.
It would have been one hundred percent true, except for the fact that we had rescued the women. It would also have been one hundred percent unhelpful when it came to keeping the peace between me and my friend.
Maybe we wouldn’t talk about it at all again. Ever.
If Poppy wanted us to leave her alone so badly after all these years, shouldn’t we respect that? Even if that meant pretending like we’d never known her?
My stomach clenched so hard at the thought that I thought I might be sick.
No matter what I said to Nolan or anyone else, there was no way I would ever forget those amazing teenage memories we’d all made together. Memories that stopped me from moving on with someone else. Memories that kept me longing for this woman. Those memories were a part of me.
Poppy and Nolan had helped to shape me into the man I’d become. How was I ever supposed to forget either of them?
“Just up here on the left,” Prue pointed toward the modest but well-kept house with the front porch light on up ahead. “Thanks again for the ride. Y’all are lifesavers.” She paused and looked back at her sister for a moment, then sighed and looked over to me. “I guess we’ll be seeing you at the wedding?”
I forced a fake smile and nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be around.”
“Good,” Prue nodded. “See you tomorrow.”
I pulled up in front of the house, and Prue opened her door. “Did you want to get out on this side?” Nolan asked Poppy. “I’ll have to move to the front seat anyway, so I can let you through.”
I turned and caught her looking at me. She glanced at Prue before turning to Nolan. We all stared back at her for several long seconds before Prue broke the silence.